Gasoline

Gasoline Remains Steady at $2.55 Per Gallon

October 2, 2017
• by Staff

Photo by Vince Taroc.

The nation's average price for a gallon of regular unleaded fell 2 cents to $2.55 for the week ending Oct. 2 as prices remain somewhat elevated from earlier years due to the impacts of two hurricanes, according to AAA.

The price is the most expensive at the start of October since 2015, when drivers paid $2.29 per gallon.

"When fall arrives, motorists expect gas prices to be cheaper than they were in the summer. That’s just not the case this year," said Jeanette Casselano, a AAA spokesperson. "Back-to-back hurricanes packed a punch to Gulf Coast refineries’ gasoline production and inventory levels. As they play catch-up, gas prices are going to be higher than we’d like to see."

Gulf Coast refineries are "building toward resuming normal operations," according to AAA. Utilization rates are up 12% to 85% of capacity since a week ago.

Most states saw prices fall as much as 8 cents, as the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states benefitted the most. Five Great Lakes and Central states are paying up to 11 cents more for gasoline. Gasoline now costs $2.50 or less at 56% of gas stations in the country.

Meanwhile, the average price of diesel increased four-tenths of a cent to $2.792, which is 40.3 cents higher than a year ago.

The average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in the U.S. in December fell to 25 mpg — down 0.2 mpg from a revised November value, according to Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak, researchers from the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).

The national average price of unleaded gasoline jumped 5 cents to $2.49 per gallon in the first week of 2018 and has reached a level not seen since 2014 during the week that starts the new year, according to AAA.

China is setting a deadline for automakers to end the sale of fossil-fuel powered vehicles as the country looks to reduce oil consumption and pollution and push for the development of electric vehicles. Regulators are working on a timetable for the ban.